Folding door



Dec. 95l A, T, GARUBO 2,577,884

FOLDING DOOR Filed N0v. 23, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET l /2 INVENToR.

*f 22 B@ 7J@ .2.4M F1610 Y Tr ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE' FOLDING BOOR Angelo 'llr Garulio, Newark, N. J.

Application November 23, 1948, Serial'Nu. 61,615

The present invention relates to folding doors, partitions, and the`like. More particularly, it relates to improvements in a folding-sectionportion of a wall, ceiling, or roof comprising means for communicatinglateral displacementfrom'one of a number of sections, for example, asection having a handle on it, to all of the others and for maintaininga parallel relationship between surfaces of the sections throughout therange oi their lateral displacement, It is known to the prior art toemploy folding doors and partitions inrsituations lwhere it would beinconvenient to control a single door or movable partition of the sizerequired'. A usual practice in such a situation has been to employ anungainly arrangement comprising a plurality of doors hinged to oneanother edge-on-edge'with one of them hinged tov a wall ofthe large roomin which it is employed. In such an arrangement there is ordinarily nomeans `for oausingsynchronous folding or unfolding of the several doorsand because of this fact they are dicult to manage and are easilydamaged.

Another well known expedient is to use sliding` partitions which can bemoved out of the way into a space provided between two surfaces of apartition. The dinculty with such an arrangement isV that it requires aspecial and expensive construction for that partition.

i It is one object of the present invention to provide a folding-sectiondoor or the like having associated pantograph or lazy-tong means forcommunicating synchronous lateral displacement between a number ofcooperating'sections and for maintaining them ina parallel relationshipthroughout their displacement in either direction whereby they may beeasilyV placed inV an open condition withthe sections compactly nestedtogether or in. a closed conditionv with the sections extended, anddisposed sequentially adjacent to one another edgewise.

While. prior art folding doors have the disadvantages which have beenexplained herein, conventional Vswinging. doors also have a number ofdisadvantages which it is the purpose of this invention to eliminate.

A principal disadvantage is that swinging doors inherently are prone toslamming, especially if they are spring-loaded. It is evident that the.edge opposite the rotational axis of the door may,

especially in. a wide door, move with considerable velocity even though`the angular rotation is at a Vlow rate. For heavy and/ or spring-loadeddoors this has necessitated the` use of expensive .checks andenergy-absorbing devices.

6 Claims. (Cl. 160--113) Therefore it is a `further-object of thepresent invention to provide a folding-section door of the kinddescribed above which may be take the place of an ordinary swinging doorof average size with its pantograph means for synchronously turning eachof the sections so arranged that even when spring-loaded the door doesnot have the disadvantage of slamming or banging against the jainb.

It is a further object te` provide aziolding door of the sind inquestion which is suitable for overhead use in-a ceiling or roof, as,for example, in a solarium roof. l

It is a further object of the` present invention to provide aioldingsection door of the kind described above which is suitable foruse as a garage door in which the sections extendhorizontally and inywhich individual means such as springs are provided for balancing theweight of the respective sections .so that there is little diference inthe amount of energy for opening or closing the closure-portion.

Other objects, features and advantages of the .present invention willAbe apparent to those skilled i in the art from the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments of the invention and from thedrawing in which:

Figure 1` is a front elevation of a folding-section door .suitable fortaking the place ci" an ordinary swinging door and having one elementpartially cut away to ,disclose the arrangement of other elements;

Figure 2 is a frontelevation of a cut-01T upper portion oi the structureshown in Figure l illustrating the outward vdisplacement of an apronelement which is effected as the door is opened;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of a fragmentary upper portionof the structure shown in Figure l, the section being taken along theline 3 3 shown in Figure l; t

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of a fragmentary lower portionof the structure shown in Figure 1, the section being taken along theline ll-S shown in Figure l;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional View of the upper portion of thestructure shown in Figure 1, the section being taken along the line 5-5shown in Figure l;

Figure 6 is a representation of a horizontal sec tional viewcorresponding to that of Figure 5 which would be `produced along theline t-E oi Figure ,1 ii the fo-ldngdoor were in a partly openedcondition;

Figure '7 is a represeni'fati,onof a horizontal sectional viewcorrespondingto that of Fgures' and 6 but which would be produced alongthe line --5 of Figure l lif the folding door were in a fully openedcondition; and

Figure 8 represents a horizontal sectional view corresponding to that ofFigure 5 for a modified form of the embodiment of Figure 1, so modifiedthat when the door is in its fully opened condition the sections are soco-extensive edge-to-edge that their respective front and back surfaceslie in the same two planes.

Figure 9 corresponds to a portion of Figure 3 and illustrates amodification including a spiral spring for holding a section eithernormally open or normally closed.

Fig. 10 corresponds to Fig. 9 and illustrates an arrangement forstaggering the spiral springs for adjacent sections to prevent them frominterfering with each other when the sections are nested together as inFig. 7.

Figure l shows a door opening surrounded by a conventional casing I. Inthe description herein the inner upright opposite surfaces of the casingwill be referred to as the jambs and the inner top surface as the headjamb. At the bottom of the opening there is a saddle 2, which may be aconventional hard wood saddle modified to meet the requirements hereof.A suitable modification is most clearly shown in Figure 4. A channel orslot is cut in the top surface of the saddle along its long axisapproximately midway between its edges. Since this slot is to serve as apivot bearing and a guideway in preferred forms of the invention, itwill be advantageous to line it with a metallic U-channel 3, which maybe connected in the slot by any suitable means, such as a number ofscrews I.

In the example shown in Figure 1, the folding door has four sections.Three of these, sections 5, 5a and 5b, are full-width sections, each ofwhich is substantially at least as wide as 1% of the width of the dooropening. Each of the sections is preferably somewhat wider than this toprovide overlap between adjacent sections. The fourth section which willbe referred to as anchor section 6 is at least half as wide as the othersections. It is thev only section which is turned without beinglaterally displaced as a whole, as the door is opened or shut and whichis turned about an axis near to one of its edges, rather than midwaybetween them. It is section 6 which determines the nesting position forthe sections when the door is open. For this purpose, it is providedwith a bottom pivot I and a top pivot 8 (which is concealed by the apronin Figure l but appears in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8). If desired, hinges,not shown, may be used to assist in anchoring and supporting section 6.This will be especially advantageous, for example, for a garage door.However, pivots 1 and 8, in addition to anchoring section 5 andaffording it a rotational axis, also play a part in a pantograph orlazy-tong linkage arrangement whereby its rotation is related to therotation and displacement of the other sections. For this reason, whereno great strain is to be imposed on the anchor section, it is convenientsimply to employ top and bottom pivots as herein shown. The saddlechannel and its metallic lining 3 do not extend all the way to the leftjamb of frame I but terminate at a short distance therefrom. In a linewith the axis of the channel and nearer to the left jamb than itstermination, a socket is provided for anchor pin 'I. This socket may bea hole bored in thesaddle and lined with a sleeve of metal. Acorresponding socket is provided for anchor pin 8 in the head-)amb offrame I.

Pivots 1 and 8, as well as other similar pivots to be described below,may be fastened to the ends of the respective sections in any suitablemanner. For example, they may be formed with wood screw threads andscrewed into the sections. However, in the example shown herein, thepivots are mechanically, connected, e. g., welded. to shallow U-channelswhich in turn are tted over and connected to the ends of the respectivewood sections. This has been found suitable for a number of reasons. Thechannels provide a smooth surface for the end of the sections which isdesirable in preference to the end-grain wood surfaces for smoothestoperation of the interlinkage arrangement shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7.In addition, the channels impart a finished appearance to the ends ofthe sections and 9a and 9b, and a top pivot I0, IIIa and IIIb. Ex-

cept for the fact that they are fastened to sections 5, 5a and 5b inalignment with the respective center axes thereof instead of near to anedge, the bottom pivots 9, 9a, and 9b are similar to pivot 1. On theother hand, the top pivots, IIJ, IIIa and IIIb, differ from pivot 8 inone further respect. Each of these pivots has in addition a head whichis shown in Figure 3 for pivot I0b. In the embodiment of Figure 1 theheads of pivots I0, I 0a and IIIb serve the purpose of carrying theweight of sections 5, 5a and 5b, as shown in Figure 3. It is obvious,however, that in alternate embodiments the weight of the sections, or atleast a part thereof, may be borne on saddle 2. Where this is done, itis advisable to substitute for channel 3 a metallic insert havingoverturned edges providing a metallic sliding surface parallel .to theupper surface of the saddle. 4If this is done, the weight of thesections may be carried on broad flat washers like the bottom one shownin Figure 4. The bottom pivot should be kept short enough so that theweight of the section is not carried on its end. One disadvantage insupporting the sections on the saddle is that any lubricant which isemployed is exposed on the upper surface of the saddle, whereas in thesupporting arrangement shown in Figure 3, the lubricant is out of theway.

Figure 3 shows the guiding and section-carrying structure employed onthe head-jamb. It includes a slotted block I2 which is screwed on to thetop jamb. The slot in block I2 is wider than the heads of the pivots.Two metal straps, Il and I 4, are fastened to the lower surface of blockI2 with their opposite edges extending beyond the vertical sides of theslot to define a guideway of slightly larger width than the diameters ofthe pivots, but considerably narrower than their heads. In theinstallation of a door, one of the straps, for example strap Il. may beput on after sections 5, 5a and 5b are placed in position with the headsof the upper pivots engaging the overhanging edge of strap I3.

It is apparent that the interlinkage employed herein necessitates acertain minimum amount of space between the top edges of the sectionsand the bottom surface of the head jamb. In the example shown herein, Iemploy an apron I5 which serves to close this space and'to conceal thelinkage mechanism, thus improving the door both functionally andartistically. The apron may comprise a facing strip I6 which norvmallyhangs -in af-vertical -planelfrornr the' head casingby-f-someY suitablemeans,` such as hinges Ifa vand-a lip portion I-l fastened att-he bottomedge thereofat right angles to 'it with fits! free edgeformed Vtothe'overlap contour'afiorded by sections? 5, 5, 5o and 5b inthe closedcondition of vtheidoor- "The contour of the edgeappears most clearly`from Figure- 2. When lthe -door is openedione edge of each ofthe-:sections 5,5a and 5b will `be displaced outward from the axis ofthe guideway as appears in Figures 6 and 7. These edgescwill abutagainst thellip I1, pushing apronloutward to the position shown inFigure 2. If desired, light spring hinges may be employed to assurecomplete downward returnof the apronlwhenthe door is again closed.xyFigure 6 most clearly illustrates the operati-on of the-interlinkageemployed' for communicating lateral displacement from one'sectiontoanother, i; e.; for causing all of the sections-to be laterallydisplaced whenfoneof them'is moved byv a force exerted on its handle andfor turning themsynchronously, i. e.,l maintaining them parallel to oneanother at all times. An anchor link IS is fitted over pin 8 and alsoover a pin in the top edge of section: 5, the last-mentioned pin beingat an equal distance from.. pin 'lliv to the distance betweenthe holesin anchor link it. Two interconnecting links I9 and 20 have holes intheir respective centerswhich are placed respectively over pivots l0 andIa. Onev free-'end of link 'I9 is'ttedover a pinin the unanchored edgeof'anchor Section5. This last-mentioned pin is vso positioned nthatone-half' of link i9; all

of anchor-link- IB; and the ltopedges or'anchor a, l

section 5 and lsection 5 define -an equilateral parallelogram. nThesamearrangement is 'borne out sequentially along adj acentsections, asshown in the drawing, through to 5 the final section which is 5b, in thepresentexample. Itis ap-A parent that this assembly is-flexible tomovement in certain directions, due to the fact'that the pivots are freeto slide, and due to the fact that a parallelogram is a collapsiblestructure, for example, as contrasted with a triangle. If a forceexerted leftward on handle 2 I, as shown in Figure 6, this force will becommunicated over several of the links and will be guided in theguideways respectively formed by U channel 3 and between straps I3 andlli, causing pivots 9, 9a, 9b, II), Ia and Illb, and sections 5, 5a, and5b to be displaced to the left in the guided direction. Since section 6and link I 8 are anchored and incapable lof sliding to the left, each ofthe parallelograins will collapse with one of its diagonals becomingshortened and the other being lengthened whereby the surfaces of thesections, while always maintained parallel to each other, will oeshifted away from the closed limiting position in which they arep-ositioned edge-to-edge with their surfaces in alignment to an oppositeopened limiting position where their surfaces are nested one above theother in a compact group to one side of the door opening as shown inFigure 7.

There appear in the drawing without assigned reference numerals suchstructural details as finish mouldings on the side jambs and bevelededges for the sections to provide an overlapping joint of satisfactoryappearance. The moulding is desirable for sea-ling the edges of thedoor. The overlapping arrangement for adjacent edges of the sections isparticularly advantageous when. the folding cl-osure-portion is used ina ceiling"l or roof section since, if sufficient pitch is given.

to the long axis of the guideways, an overlapping roof structure isachieved in" which water-'willi runfY across thenjunctures betweenadjacentsedtionswithout leaking. through.

Figure L 3 illustrates how the edge. pivots; prg.. vided'forthe linkagearrangement may be. appro# priately offset ,from the center .linebetweenthe surfacesof the l.sections so .thatin a fully closed conditionof the door thefront .and back surfaces of allof the sectionsV arerespectively coextensive in. two-parallel planes. Portions. ofanchor-.link It and link ils are cut away in Figure. 8 Ato illustrate asuitable `joint' for abutting edgesof adjacent sections to prevent adirectline of sight between them.

.Wherea folding. closure portion of .the kind described hereinisemployed in an openingV of al ceilingA or roof, 4no heads. are required.for any of the pivots inasmuchA asthe weight of the lsections is. borneon the sidesof the pivots; rather than alongv their long axes.Accordingly,:pro vision shouldbemade that the .pivots are stronglyenough fastened to vthe sections. and Ithel guide- Ways are strong.enough to be capable .of carryingtheweight of the. sections with .theforce exerted :therebybeing..transverse Ato the axis.. of'

the pivots.

'-uiilliere` a folding door .of the .kindgdisclosed' herein is employedfor a garage and is opened andy closed along a vertical. axisthe'guideways serve primarily. asguideways and doznot .supportsubstantial weight. However, insuch .an `em loo-:limerit theanchorsection will support 'the' weight ofall of the sections andtherefore, either its pivots should. be designed accordingly,- orftheyshould be supplemented byvhinges.

Figure 9 corresponds-.to Figure 34 but. alsoshows a spiral spring whichmay be loaded so-.aszato urge'a section toward.` either lits opened s orclosed'position, as desired. Y*Inza garageedoor einbodimentthere maybeonespring 22 for each center ipivot. Since the ytotalnumheimis quitelarge ,1 and since each may be cuite stifl,Y these springs may serve tocounterbalance the weight of the sections. In Figure 9 the pivot isrotatably carried in a bearing in a lug 23 which is grooved on itsopposite edges to fit into and be slidably borne in the guideway formedbetween straps I 3 and I4. A spring-anchoring arm 24 holds the outsideend of spiral spring 22 while its inside end is retained in the head ofthe pivot.

Where each spring 22 in its most unwound condition has a diametergreater than the thickness of one of the sections, it will be necessary,as shown in Fig. l0, to stagger the springs to prevent adjacent onesfrom interfering with each other. This can be accomplished if the headsof the pins comprising one alternate set thereof are of a first lengthand if the heads of all the others are either longer or shorter, so thatadjacent springs may overlap.

The expression folding-section portion for a closure is used in theclaims which follow as a way of broadly referring to folding-sectiondoors for use in either Walls, ceiling, or roofs.

What is claimed is:

l. A folding closure portion comprising: a plurality of parallelelongated sections; pantograph means interconnecting the sections alongtheir end-edges; a pair of parallel guideways carrying theinterconnected sections slidably therealong; said means comprising a setof links joined to the end-edges of the sections by center and endpivots in a lazy tong arrangement; one of the guideways including asupport and two straps attached thereto with an edge of one .inalignment with and spaced from an edge of the other; a plurality of lugseach having aligned grooves in a pair of its opposite edges and abearing extending through its center portion between said edges; thelugs being borne in said one guideway with their grooves tightlyengaging the aligned edges of said straps whereby they are only slidablymovable in the guideway; the center pivot in each end-edge of eachsection extending through and being rotatably borne in the bearing ofrespective one of said lugs; and a spiral spring carried on the end ofeach of said last mentioned center pivots with its innermost turn fixedthereto, and its outermost turn fastened t the 111g associatedtherewith, the springs being loaded to urge the sections along theguideways in the direction to fold the closure portion and to still bepartially loaded when it is fully folded.

2. A folding closure portion as in claim 1 in which one of said twostraps is removably attached to said support to facilitate installationof the folding closure portion in an opening.

3. A folding closure portion as in claim 1 in which the elongatedsections are disposed horizontally and the guideways vertically and thetwo spiral springs of each individual section are pre-loaded fully tocounter weigh the weight thereof.

4. A folding closure portion as in claim 1 in which said sections aredisposed vertically within a four-sided frame with one of said lazytongarrangements also within the frame and along the top side thereof andwhich furtherl lazy-tong arrangement and a lip portion extending fromthe bottom edge of said facing strip toward said sections and having itsfree edge shaped'to the contour presented thereby in their fullyunfolded edge-to-edge relationship. said free edge of the lip portionfacing the side-edges of the sections which move frontward duringfolding of the closure portion to be forced thereby into said secondposition, and means yieldably urging said apron toward said firstposition.

5. A folding closure portion as in claim 1 in which a spring anchoringarm is attached to each of said lugs with its free end fastened to theoutermost turn of a. respective one of said springs.

6. A folding closure portion as in claim 1 in which the spiral springsfor successive ones of said sections are positioned on the center pivotsthereof at staggered distances from the ends of the sections whereby forthe folded condition ot the closure portion the springs of adjacentsections will tend to overlap rather than to abut against one another.

ANGELO T. GARUBO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 799,398 McMullen Sept. 12, 19051,351,229 Bombelli Aug. 31, 1920 1,444,349 Leeds Feb. 6, 1923 1,463,346Walker July 31, 1923 1,877,950 Nordell Sept. 20, 1932 2,188,575 McLennanJan. 30, 1940 2,422,407 Green June 17, 1947 2,448,800 Harju Sept. 7,1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 117,701 Great Britain Aug. 1,1918

